Diary of a Witness
 Title page | |
| Author | Pedro Antonio de Alarcón |
|---|---|
| Original title | Diario de un testigo de la guerra de África |
| Translator | Bern Keating |
| Illustrator | Francisco Ortego |
| Language | Spanish |
| Subject | Hispano-Moroccan War |
| Publisher | Gaspar y Roig |
Publication date | 1859 |
| Publication place | Spain |
Published in English | 1988 |
| Pages | 317 |
Diary of a Witness: Diary of a Witness to the War in Africa (Spanish: Diario de un testigo de la guerra de África) is an 1859 autobiographical work by the Spanish writer Pedro Antonio de Alarcón. It is an account of the Hispano-Moroccan War, told from a patriotic Spanish perspective.[1]
Alarcón had enlisted for the war after his play El hijo pródigo became a failure.[2] The book was compiled from Alarcón's travel writings originally published through the magazine El Museo Universal with illustrations by Francisco Ortego.[3] It was published in English translation by Bern Keating in 1988.[4]
Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature calls Diary of a Witness "a masterpiece of description".[2] Eric Calderwood analyses the book's impact in his monograph Colonial al-Andalus, where he describes it as "the most famous account of the war that marked the beginning of Spanish colonialism in Morocco".[5]
References
- ^ Canals Piñas, Jorge (2021). "Prensa y colonialismo. Pedro Antonio de Alarcón en Marruecos". Siglo diecinueve (in Spanish). 27: 193‐222. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ a b "Alarcón". Merriam-Webster's Encyclopedia of Literature. Merriam-Webste. 1995. p. 27. ISBN 0877790426.
- ^ Rodríguez Fischer, Ana (2012). "Los viajes de Pedro Antonio de Alarcón. Teatros de la tragicomedia de una vida". Anuario de estudios filológicos (in Spanish). 35: 181–199. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
- ^ Alarcón, Pedro Antonio de (1988). Diary of a Witness: Diary of a Witness to the War in Africa. Translated by Keating, Bern. Memphis, TN: White Rose Press. ISBN 0940561107.
- ^ Calderwood, Eric (2018). Colonial al-Andalus: Spain and the Making of Modern Moroccan Culture. Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674985797.
External links
- Internet Archive
Media related to Diario de un testigo de la guerra de África at Wikimedia Commons